Alison

We went over to Evans Cycles at Spitalfields in search of a new bike for me (mine was stolen late last year). The shop purports to be the largest bike showroom in London. Today it had loads of bikes, nearly all on clearout, exactly one of which fitted me. I explained that I'd owned a small frame mountain bike to which we had added semi-slick tyres, and they happened to have exactly such a bike in stock. Completely rigid, which I like in principle and which keeps the weight and price down; it will obviously be harder off-road but by comparison felt absolutely fantastic on the test ride, even bearing in mind the pothole-encrusted nature of London streets.

It's weird; it looks like a special order for someone that was returned, and then hung around the warehouse for a bit before being knocked down to an outrageously low price. GT Zum 4.0 (probably in fact a 4.0 R which is I think the model number for the rigid version, but it's hard to tell, because I can't find any description of this bike with these components online), in a metallic grey. And I paid, oh, less than half my planned budget for a new bike.

I also needed a new helmet (they say you should change them every two years, and mine is about eight years old), so I celebrated the bargain bike by buying an insanely expensive helmet.

By the time I got home it was cold, dark and wet. So I will have to wait for another day to take it out.

Evans is pretty near me (Is that the one with the "Cycle Surgery"?) but I am not competant enough to ride on roads safely so I would end up walking one to Liverpool Street, and then walking it home from the tube

I think Cycle Surgery is a different brand -- Evans is round the corner. I actually got the helmet from Cycle Surgery because none of the helmets at Evans were excessive enough (basically, they were cheap and badly fitting, or expensive, well-fitting, and ugly). We got the bike home on the train from Liverpool St to Walthamstow. No non-folding bicycles on the Victoria Line, not that the Vicky line is running today. I can ride on streets well enough to get home from Liverpool Street, but it would be a bit tedious, even on a Sunday.